Aroldis Chapman’s back doesn’t seem to be all that serious. Today he went to get his Social Security card before returning to the team. Hopefully its a good sign of things to come as far as his back goes.
Speaking of Chapman, Baseball Daily Digest takes a look at our Cuban phenom. The writer believes its best for Chapman to head to Louisville for a few months and then arrive in Cincinnati. I agree and wouldn’t be beyond sending him to AA even, just to let him work on things in a much less stressful environment.
I heard that last years draft pick Derrick Lowery has been converted to a pitcher recently after spending time last season as a first baseman. He did pitch one inning for the GCL Reds last season. The Reds seem to have plenty of former position players that are now pitching in the system. Lowery joins Mike Konstanty, Jerry Gil, Josh Roenicke and Carlos Fisher as former position guys turned pitcher to come through the system.
Matt Maloney had a good game down down in the minor league game for Louisville as he struck out 6 batters in 3.2 scoreless innings. He allowed 3 unearned runs and 6 hits, but he did his job.
I ran my Reds projections for the team last night for roughly 20 players, then just a generic bench comprising of 800 at bats of a .650 OPS (not counting pitchers who were accounted for separately). My team projected to score 776 runs and allow 730 runs, which ideally would give them an 86-76 record on the season. I see the bullpen taking a step back a little bit, but the rotation taking a little bit of a step forward overall and remaining roughly the same as a whole. The hitting I had taking giant leaps forward though. Here are the stats I had for the guys:
| Pitchers | IP | ERA | |
| Aaron Harang | 200 | 3.95 | |
| Homer Bailey | 195 | 3.75 | |
| Bronson Arroyo | 210 | 4.35 | |
| Johnny Cueto | 185 | 4.15 | |
| Matt Maloney | 110 | 4.75 | |
| Nick Masset | 60 | 3.50 | |
| Aroldis Chapman | 100 | 4.00 | |
| Danny Herrera | 65 | 3.95 | |
| Francisco Cordero | 65 | 3.00 | |
| Jared Burton | 55 | 4.25 | |
| Hitters | At Bats | OBP | SLG |
| Ramon Hernandez | 400 | .330 | .440 |
| Ryan Hanigan | 200 | .360 | .350 |
| Joey Votto | 525 | .370 | .500 |
| Brandon Phillips | 575 | .340 | .450 |
| Scott Rolen | 500 | .360 | .425 |
| Orlando Cabrera | 575 | .330 | .385 |
| Drew Stubbs | 525 | .345 | .425 |
| Chris Dickerson | 300 | .350 | .400 |
| Jonny Gomes | 300 | .325 | .500 |
| Jay Bruce | 525 | .355 | .535 |
What do you guys think? Am I completely wrong on someone? I clearly see Homer and Jay breaking out this season, while Votto comes back down to Earth somewhat (though mainly its his BABIP, not his skillset I see coming back to Earth). If the Reds can get another break out to go along with those two they may have a shot to take the Central.
Tonight also kicks off the Sweet 16. Should be fun. For the record, I am currently tied for first in our little bracket challenge, though unlike the other person tied for first, my champion is still in the tournament.